


They're Real...

by Zebraraffe2351



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Fae & Fairies, Help, I Tried, Love at First Sight, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, This is weird, but don't mind it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 10:04:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17343305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zebraraffe2351/pseuds/Zebraraffe2351
Summary: Catalina Smith was just a normal girl. Just as alike as everyone on her school campus. Except for one thing; she has a book. Not just any book, but a book that gives life to the characters inside the story! Yeah, she thinks it's pretty weird too.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, Y'all. Thank you for reading this new story of mine! This is very odd for me, to post my own personal stories to a forum and have people read it, but hey, it'll be fun... hopefully. Anyway, ENJOY!! ❤❤

_ Chapter 12 _

_ The sounds of horse hooves hitting fallen leaves and dirt surrounded the adjacent forests and ricocheted off the sycamores. The night sky had fallen quickly as they neared closer to their final destination. The pair reached the end of the forest, a small clearing which opened into a wide expanse of farmland. Deer grazed around them, silently waiting for any sudden movement, and scattering when the leaves rustled.  _

_ On the back of those horses were a man and a woman, both very alike in their features and their stature. The woman- who we all know goes by the name as Arianna- had situated her hair that morning to be as a green waterfall, the waves cascading down her neck and onto her shoulders. She wasn’t much for showing off her beauty in times of peril and hurry, but she knew when her time to shine would arrive. She was dressed in traditional female riding clothes- dark pants, an ironed white button up, and the knee-high riding boots. Her ears were covered, afraid that if any other creature were to spot her, they would try and propose an attack against the two of them. Her pale green- silver eyes glimmered with the late evening sun.  _

_ Beside her was a man- who were should all know as the main character of this blessed novel. Tyrant Grimm, the current King of Grimm and surrounding cities, and Ariana's older brother. His vibrant yellow hair was getting a tad more shaggy than Arianna would have wanted, but Arianna knew not to address those type of things when the two were on a time crunch. His eyes seemed to hold the weight of the world or at least the weight of his government. His eyes flashed when he looked around the field, searching for that one thing that they had come there for in the first place.  _

_ The two slowed down to a canter and then to a sudden stop. Once the horses stopped, the two of them pawed at the ground. Tyrant was the first to climb off his horse, stretching from the long ride. His back popped a bit before he was finally satisfied with himself. His horse whinnied and pawed at the ground once again, nudging his rider’s head. Tyrant’s hand patted the top of the horses head and Tyrant fell to the ground, laughing with exhaustion. On his face sat a lazy smile that only stretched a little way around his face, but it could still light up half the country. And sometimes, that’s exactly what it did. _

_ He pat the horse's side and chuckled. “Don’t worry, Zion. Arianna and I will be out of this place before you can even neigh.” Tyrant sighed and fell onto his back beside his horse. Right as he was about to close his eyes, something was thrown to the ground. The object slightly grazed his ear. Tyrant turned his head to see his sister Arianna lean over and unearth her sword that had struck the ground beside him.  _

_ Tyrant rolled his eyes and lifted his body from the ground. His back cracked and snapped a bit before he stretched his arms above his head and let his gaze wander the expanse of the clearing. His eyebrows pulled close together as he faced his sister. “Arianna, I have been led to believe that you hit things on target when you want to kill them.” Arianna rolled her eyes and sheathed her sword. Tyrant took the chance to question her. “Where is your dear sweet husband, Topaz, sister?”  _

_ Her eyes shifted to the ground as she shuffled her feet, letting a tear escape and trail down her cheek. “He… um… he left us,” she answered sullenly. Her head had fallen into her shoulders, seeming to disappear. _

_ Tyrant looked at the large tree standing in front of him and asked again, “Where did he go?” _

_ “He stole Denali and left to… The End.” Arianna sucked in a breath and buried her head in her hands.  _

**__________()()__________**

Catalina placed the book on her table and leaned against the pillow behind her. She loved the end of the story most of all. She especially liked the fact that in the very end, all the main characters come out of the book. She recalled the time it had first happened to her, but for some reason, she had lost most memory of the incident after her mother had mysteriously visited after ten years. It surely was indeed… curious, but she never worried about it much. Reading the book always took her a long time, school and other recreational activities taking up the most of her time. Now that the semester had ended, she had enough free time to read her favorite book once again.

Catalina looked up and took the time to scan the room around her. Many people who came into her room had expressed their feeling of emptiness and… white. They told her that she should have more things on her wall to make it seem as if someone was living there. However many times people had told her that, she never always responded with “I don’t want to”. Catalina believed that the room showed her character and personality perfectly; plain, bare, and not at all interesting. She knew that the room could say more words than she ever could. 

It was around midnight, yet for some reason, she wasn’t at all that tired. She looked at the white wall across from her. It was like the rest of them, but she was glad for that wall. It protected her from all the outside forces. If it wasn’t for that one wall, she’d be dead or washed up on some random street corner. So yes, she was glad that she had a fourth wall to protect her. She laughed at that thought and shook her head. She was always so silly, thinking about walls and how they simply protected her from the rain. For example, rain wasn’t bad. Catalina loved the rain. She loved sitting inside with a nice warm mug, watching the droplets pour outside. She could sit there for hours on end, watching the crystal clear droplets run down her window, only to be lost to the others. Sighing, she finally let her mind get the best of her. 

She thought of things. But most importantly, she thought of her favorite character, Tyrant. Catalina held the perfect picture in her head; Tyrant, sitting in her room when she awoke from a night of sleep with Zion- his horse- laying beside him. The thought was suddenly shaken from her head. Why would her favorite character come to visit her anyway? It wasn’t like she was exciting or interesting. She certainly not pretty on her best friend’s standards. Catalina closed her eyes and turned on her side, facing her protective fourth wall. Her eyes were about to close, the rain pounding against the window next to her. 

Suddenly, a bright blue light flashed across the room. Catalina’s eyes shut tightly from the light, knowing that it was certainly not lightning. She heard a sound from the corner of her room and she looked over to the small corner of her room. The sound of rustling gave way to what- or whom- it as coming from. 

A man around the age of twenty sat in the corner of her bedroom. He seemed stunned by the fact that he was in a weird place. Catalina took the time to take in the man's features. Taking the chance to look at his facial features, the very first thing he noticed where his ears. Unlike her ears which were smaller and rounder at the top, the man’s ears were large. The cartilage seemed to stretch on forever and it eventually ended in the tip at the end of his ear. On his ear were five gold and silver earrings. There were smaller jewel-like earrings and hoops when it got to the end of the ear. Moving down his face, she noticed his jaw. It was as sharp as a knife. She wanted to touch it, but afraid that if she got too close, she would knick her finger on it and bleed out. Moving on… His eyes held the constellations in the sky, the silverness of them reflecting the light from the posts outside. However, Catalina now realized that it was an inverted version of the constellations. When you would mostly see silver or white on black, it was small black dots on the silver depths of the man’s eyes. He had cobalt blue hair that hung around his head in long strings. Around his head was a navy blue headband that disappeared around his ears and into the depths of his hair.

Catalina got up from her bed and walked over to the man. The man was taken aback by what she was wearing; a white tank top that left absolutely  _ nothing _ to the imagination and hand-me-down pajama pants with little pandas on them. The pants were riding up on her hips, making the bottom higher up on her legs, but even when she pulled it down, it never seemed to touch her ankles. He scrambled to get up from his position on the ground and faced her. The man with blue hair and silver eyes in front of Catalina was attractive- quite attractive- but, when the idea of dating came to mind, Catalina though more of her friends. 

His eyes raked up and down, his mouth stretching into a grin and his eyes shining with a sense of similarity and recognition. His mouth opened and he spoke, “Why, hello, girly! What’s your name?”

“Catalina,” she muttered, her arms crossing over her chest. “And what is yours, strange, mysterious man?”

The man reached forward and grabbed her hand. “My name is Topaz Grimm, head of the royal guard for the county Grimm. An absolute pleasure to meet you, Catalina. ” He bowed, kissing her knuckles, while a laugh escaped his lips. She recoiled, her hand coming back to her chest. 

Catalina’s mouth was still open, a small sound escaping her lips as she ran back to her book. She whisked it from the table and thrust it in Topaz’s face. Topaz laughed and grabbed the book from her shaking hands. He swung to her bookmarked page and read, “‘He stole Denali and left to… The End.’” He scoffed and looked up at Catalina through his eyelashes. “Well, let me just tell you that my wife is absolutely dramatic when it comes to these things.” Topaz closed the book and gave it back to Catalina, she took the book and held it close to her chest.  

“When do you leave?”

“I should probably be going back now, but the thing is, I can’t! So, I guess I’ll have to stay here until they come and find me. It will take around 12 hours and honestly, I have no idea when they’re arriving.”

Catalina sat down on the edge of her bed. “What will happen when they arrive?”

Topaz turned to her and sat on the floor. “You sure do ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”

Catalina’s eyes popped open and she seemed to shrink in on herself, the book still hugged to her chest. “I-I’m sorry.”

Topaz’s eyebrows threaded together. He realized what he had said to her and immediately felt bad for it. His hands shot out in immediate surrender and he stood from his spot to go over to her. “No, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s perfectly alright. I just thought you were going to be awake when I arrived. I just need some sleep at the moment. I promise that I’ll be much better in the morning. The floor would be perfectly fine for me.” He turned back to the ground and collapsed.  Catalina took that chance and perked up. 

“Let me get you some linens from the closet. I’ll be just a second.” Topaz was going to intrude and stop her for going out of her way, but she was already out of the room before he could say anything. Topaz took the time to look around Catalina’s room since he didn't have much else to do in a room by himself. Catalina returned with a couple of blankets and pillows in her arms. Her face was red and she looked as if she had run a mile before coming back into the room. She threw the pile on the ground beside Topaz and went back to her bed.

“If you need anything else, just tell me and I’ll go get them for you.” He nodded and made himself a small makeshift bed on the floor. Catalina nodded while he made the bed. Once she was finally satisfied, Catalina turned on her heel and crawled into bed. She threw her sheets over her body, a cold draft taking her body deeper into the warm depths of her blanket. 

Topaz arose from his position on the floor, thinking that Catalina was already asleep. He tiptoed over to the bed and knelt over Catalina. His hand reached out and played with a small strand of hair and he muttered, “Good night, little sister,” before kissing her hair and making his way back to the floor. Catalina’s eyes fell closed and she drifted off into a deep sleep.

However, in the middle of the night, Catalina shot up in bed. Her eyes flew around the room, trying to get a sense of the room around her before she relaxed and slowed down her breathing. Almost as a reflex, Catalina turned to her side, flicking on the light beside her and grabbing the book in her hands. She flipped back to the page she was on and began to read slowly. 

_ “Tyrant moved across the small space between him and his sister before wrapping her into a hug. Her arms instinctively went around his waist, pulling herself into the hug even more. Her eyes fluttered against his neck, her tears beginning to dry.  _

_ ‘You know, that is very interesting,’ he said, pulling away and pulling her toward a fallen tree near where they sat. ‘That boy took your horse, didn’t he?’ Arianna looked up at her brother and nodded, her eyelashes still full of unfallen tears. She tilted her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes at the same time. They sat like that for a few minutes, the silence wrapping them in a nice, warm blanket.  _

_ Arianna sniffled a bit and leaned away to look back at Tyrant. ‘Ty,’ she whispered, ‘I don’t think that there’s any way that I can trust Topaz. With all the different things-’ Tyrant grabbed Ariana's hands and clasped them in his own.  _

_ ‘Sister, there is no need to worry about him or your feelings about him.  I mean, of course, you can trust him. There may be some disadvantages to that, but we both know that he is our brother and- in your case husband- we both know the reasons that we can trust him.’ He swung his arm over her shoulders, pulling her close before whispering, ‘You’re the one who fell in love with him and got married, not me.’ Arianna laughed and pulled away, wiping the tears away. But before she could stand from the log, Tyrant wrapped her in one last hug. One that encompassed the two of them and made the two feel safe. _

_ Arianna yawned and pulled away from the embrace. ‘I’m going to sleep,’ she muttered, going over to her horse and laying beside her. _

_ ‘Sleep tight, little sister.’ “ _

**__________()()__________**

Catalina sat in her bed, her eyes still red and itchy from the night before. She had stayed up early, waiting for Topaz to finally wake up. Her eyebrows were pulled tight together, trying her hardest to think of the events that had taken place after she had fallen asleep. All she remembered from the night was falling asleep for about two seconds and then waking up to start reading. After that, she hadn’t fallen back asleep and now her head pounded with an overlooming headache. She was now sitting awake in bed waiting for  _ someone _ to wake up from his beauty rest. 

Topaz suddenly bolted straight up from his makeshift bed, his breathing labored and stressed. The movements had Catalina spooked out of her thoughts and well aware of everything happening around her. Topaz looked frightened and overall scared before he caught Catalina’s eye. As if a switch had been flicked on, a laugh bubbled out from his chest and he was bent in half, laughing over his lap. His shoulders moved from the force of the laughter. Catalina was mortified about what had just played out, but before long, she giggled along with him the small laughs seemingly forced from her lungs. As the two were encompassed in their laugh fest, a sparkle gained their attention as it glimmered from the opposite corner of the room. 

The sun had aimed perfectly, creating a small reflection that sent a glimmer all around the room. On Catalina’s dresser sat a small set of royal jewels, golden and shining perfectly with the early morning rays. However, instead of necklaces and other not really important stuff, on the top of the dresser sat a royal crown and a tiara. The other side of the room was absolutely silent. Topaz went quiet when they had noticed the crown jewels. He stood from his spot on the floor and made his way over to the two glimmering things. He carefully held both in each hand, and a small smile graced his lips before he turned back to Catalina. A bubble of a laugh trickled out from his closed lips as he looked at the precious jewels atop his hands. 

Catalina stood beside him and stared at the jewels in absolute awe. Her voice stuttered a bit before she cleared her voice and spoke. “Isn’t that King Tyrant’s crown and Queen Arianna's tiara?” Topaz laughed again and placed them back on the dresser. 

“I mean, they prefer Tyrant and Arianna, but yes, they are their frequented headwear. I stole them hoping he would notice and come after me.” Topaz sighed and looked longingly down at the jewels. “Then I realized that they were already coming here anyway.” He slightly cringed at something and the smell of burning flesh filled the air around the pair. Topaz quickly threw the crown at her. Catalina reached out and caught the crown before it hit the ground. She looked up at Topaz, fury very evident in her eyes, but she noticed that his eyebrows were knit together and he was picking slowly at his hands. He noticed her staring and smiled at her.  She snuck a small glance at his hands before he shoved them into his pockets. Bright burns and blisters were starting to form, red with irritation and heat. His smile was pained, but he continued to stare down Catalina until she dropped the subject. But she wasn’t that easy.

Catalina stood straight, her hands cradling the crown in her hands, fearful that the same thing will happen to her. “What the hell just happened to your hands? And why is the metal hot?”

Topaz smiled, hands coming out from their pocket caves and reaching toward the golden crown. Catalina pulled it away and shot him a look. Topaz rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s a defense mechanism that Tyrant really,  _ really _ wanted to have on his crown. He went around the entire kingdom looking for the strongest witch to put on the worst curse that she could come up with. Burns isn’t even the worst part. If a thief was to take the crown for a long amount of time, then the crown would set on fire and consume the person in flames, leaving them to die. Then, it sets off a bright white light that attracts the knights to come and get the crown. If any predator tries to come and pick at it, thinking that it’s food, then it will set everything in a twenty-mile radius on fire.” Topaz’s smile widened as Catalina stared at him with bulging eyes. “Don’t worry about it though.” Catalina dropped the crown on the ground, her face still slack with shock. 

Silence settled over them as they stood together and stared down at the crown. Topaz poked at it with his toe, moving it so it shone in the morning light that glimmered in through the window. Topaz coughed and Catalina sniffled, the sounds filling the space around them. Suddenly, Topaz looked up at Catalina with a smirk.

He turned on his heel and began to march toward the door of her room. “What kind of breakfast foods do you have?” He wondered, seemingly to himself. His arm reached out and his hand was placed on the doorknob. 

Catalina swore and rushed to the front of her door. She stood in front of Topaz, her eyes filled with fire. “You cannot go out there right now. My roommates are probably awake by now and they are like rabid wolves. They will  _ ruin _ you.”

Topaz scoffed and pushed past Catalina. “Your roommates can’t be that bad. Besides, it’s understandable if they absolutely want to ravage me. I am me, after all.” The door was shoved open and Zelda was left speechless in her room. 


	2. Simply Put... Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Topaz and Catalina both experience her roommates as the two other characters await their time to arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter has come!!! I hope you enjoy!!

_ The siblings slowed to a stop in front of a large castle that distinctly reminded Tyrant of home. He hopped right off his horse and waded through the tall grass toward the tall, wooden doors that stood immovable in front of him. He heard footsteps crunching in the dirt far behind him and turned in time to see three men drop below his line of sight, right into the grass. Tyrant quickly swung around to his sister, grabbing Arianna by her wrists and shoving her toward the doors, pulling them open and shoving her inside, blindly hoping that Arianna would make it to Topaz. Tyrant shuffled quietly over to the horses, grabbing their reigns and whisperings directions at them. He lightly hit their haunches and watched them run toward the general direction of the group of men.  _

_ Watching the horses run through the grass, Tyrant heard a rustle from the bushes behind him. He swung around, grabbing his blade from its hilt and pointing it in the direction of the sound. The sounds seemed to appear from everywhere around him, the grass either swooshing in the wind or his attackers were steadily approaching his place near The End.  _

_ “Oi!” Tyrant turned and faced the grass again. The three attackers were standing a few yards away from him, their swords shining in the late afternoon sun. Blood dripped off the tips of the metal and covered their bodies from head to toe. “Where do you think you’re going this late in the day, sir? Shouldn’t you be at home taking care of your mistresses?” The man that was talking- the taller- had the distinct accent of a citizen from Blood, a neighboring territory. Tyrant could only assume that both of the other men were from Blood as well, though there was no proof of it.  _

_ Tyrant’s lips curled up in a smile. “I honestly do not think that it’s any of your business, my friends.” _

_ “Oh, we ain’t your friends.” They began to step forward, their swords raised. Tyrant put his hands up in faux submission, totally forgetting about the weight of his sword Greito that felt comfortable in his hand. The attackers froze their advances at the longsword of the king. They had obviously come unprepared for a fight against the best swordsman since King Eric, his father. Tyrant’s face broke out with a smile once again as he let his sword drop and professionally swung it around a few times before dropping into a fighting stance, his smile still stretching across his lips.  _

_ He took the time that they were using up to stare at the other men. They were of varying heights- one standing much higher than the others. One had a large gash in his leg that made it hard for him to move without a large limp in his gait. One of the smaller ones was- of course- smaller, his legs smaller and, with that, probably a smaller sustainability to the amount of running it would take to catch Tyrant at his top speed. However, the shorter two were seemingly unharmed, though their injuries might not be visible to the eye. Possibly in a place where he couldn’t see, or some sort of mental disability. Tyrant wasn’t one to judge, though, so he assessed purely on their physical abilities.   _

_ Tyrant was up for the challenge. _

_ “My dear men, you know that there is simply one more trip to the real world and we both know who’s going.” _

_ “You don’t understand. These woods”-he waved his arms around to indicate the obviously not-obvious woods to the person who had lived there his entire life- “these are ours. And you ain’t gonna be the one to take ‘em.” _

_ Tyrant stood in front of the castle doors and shrugged. He felt the blast of wind behind him as the doors opened, but he knew that he couldn’t leave these men to wander the woods freely. So instead of taking his chance and jumping through, he swung his sword at the group and managed to cut the leg of one of the shorter ones. Blood began to stain the dirt and the grass around them, permanently dirtying the earth with enemy blood.  _

_ The fight was bloody and an absolute mess but ultimately ended with Tyrant being the winner. He stood over his foes, panting heavily, as his bloodied sword was held limply in his hand. He grinned with victory and began to stumble over the opened doors. _

_ Golden light poured from the opening, power absolutely leaking from the doorway, moving and swirling up and around Tyrant, hugging his sides as it desperately tried to get him through the doorway. He heard a few grunts from behind him but shoved it off thinking it was just a dying man shifting his position before he died. The grunting stopped and again Tyrant shrugged it off. Suddenly, a sharp pain sprouted from his back. Tyrant crumbled to the ground, clutching at his back as the man behind him finally died. He looked down at himself and noticed the dark red blotch spread across his shirt. He groaned, thinking about how much work it would take to get the stains out of his clothing.  _

_ He felt his life slowly seep from the wound, spilling slowly onto the ground as his life flew away from him. Right before he thought he was going to die, power washed through him. It flooded his veins as the better of his wounds were healed. The power felt like fire, burning him from inside out. He suddenly felt the strength to crawl to the entrance.  _

_ The shutting of doors echoed around him as he fell deeper and deeper into the depths of nothingness. _

**__________()()__________**

 

Catalina reached out and grabbed Topaz’s hand, not realizing that her two roommates sat on the other side of the door, cereal bowls in front of them. Watching the two of them, Catalina noticed, was almost as if you were watching two machines do their daily routines. The spoons grasped tightly in their dominant hand moved up and down methodically as their nondominant hand swiped through Instagram, occasionally double tapping on a picture. They sat at the counter of their small kitchen, their cereal bowls untouched in front of them. Their latest favorite cereal had been Cap’n Crunch™, so Catalina could only guess that that cereal was the one that sat in the porcelain bowls at the moment. Catalina noticed that she could totally take this chance to drag Topaz back into her room, but she underestimated how much space she had between her and the door and she ran right into it. 

Mackenzie, the youngest, looked up with tired eyes and smiled wildly. Crazily may be the better word for it. Catalina cursed a little under her breath, knowing that she had just been caught by the two worst people with a guy coming out from her room. As if she had never seen a gorgeous man in her life before which Catalina knew was probably the case. Her red hair fell around her face like a curtain, blocking out the blinding sun rays that threatened to enter the room. She stood from her stool. Her gaze shifted up and down Topaz, her eyes lingering on only the parts she wanted; his lips, his chest, and most importantly, his… place. And she was not at all secretive of it. She looked over at her best friend, noticing that the other girl was so out of it that she hadn’t noticed the new meat enter the room. Mackenzie quickly elbowed her friend in the side, bringing her attention to the two standing in the doorway. 

“Topaz,” Catalina whispered, tugging on his arm to try and get him back into the room, “they’re going to start arguing. If there’s any chance to escape, this is it.” Topaz shrugged her off and turned to look at her. 

“Cat, I know you hate your roommates, and I understand that. But I am absolutely famished right now and if you don’t allow me to go to the fridge and grab that awesome cereal that they’re eating, then goddammit, a lot of bad stuff is gonna go down between you and me!” Catalina released his arm and backed off from him, her hands up in fake surrender. 

By the time Catalina and Topaz were done fighting, Mackenzie and Callie were also done having their small feud. They stared at her as if she had murdered someone which was totally explainable because it was quite a surprise that Catalina had a man in her room, to begin with. The two were standing from their stools and their arms were crossed over their chest to reveal a closed-off, tough expression that was probably supposed to threaten the other two. It didn’t work. The four of them stared at each other for a few minutes, Callie and Mackenzie’s eyes shifting from Catalina to Topaz, their eyes softening when they reached the latter.  They raked up and down Topaz’s body, acting as if they were staring at a painting in a museum. 

Topaz froze under the scrutiny and laughed nervously, reaching behind him to grab the doorknob. “Well, ladies, it’s been fun, but I think my wife is calling me, so…” He grabbed Catalina from the back and yanked her into the room with him. He quickly shut the door behind him and locked it, turning to look back at Catalina with wide eyes. 

“You did  _ not _ tell me that there were wild wolves out there.”

“Actually,” Catalina sighed, tilting her head to stare at Topaz, “I did tell you that. I used that exact analogy too.” She pushed at his chest with a finger. “However, you were too busy being stuck up and stupid to take my well-given advice. But, whatever!” Catalina huffed out a breath and sunk into her bed, laying back against the pillows stacked against the wall. Her eyes slid closed as she continued to spout words at Topaz. “You know, if you had listened to me in the first place, we wouldn’t have gotten into this mess. Callie and Mac wouldn’t be outside my door trying to get to you and I wouldn’t have to deal with the constant pestering when you eventually leave. Which I know you will. I’ve read the book before so I know what inevitably happens when you turn away from page 253. The portal opens from the real world and the characters step through, leaving the poor mortal soul behind.” 

As she continued ranting about all the hardships that her life was bringing her, Topaz chose that time to slip away from the room and into the hallway where he, again, was face to face with the wolves. Their lips parted to reveal hungry smiles as Catalina was none the wiser.

“If only Arianna and Tyrant were here,” she mumbled as she turned to lay face down in her pillow. The words were muffled as she said, “They would totally fix everything and take me far,  _ far _ away from this horrid place.”

The room was quiet for a second. She lifted her head from the pillow and frowned when she realized that Topaz was no longer listening to her rant. She listened to the sounds of her room and beyond. The rain pattered against her window and she heard the conversations of her roommates and other students going to early morning classes. She was lucky and had signed up for classes in time to not get an early class. Besides, it was Monday. Catalina never had classes on Monday due to the odd saying that her mother had drilled into her head as a child. 

“Mondays were never meant for your talent but the talent of others. Do not waste your well-earned time on a Monday.”

She could now say after her mother had gone missing for three years, that her mother was actually crazy. Then she thought about the fact that she never said it out loud. And she had just heard it echo around her room in the early hours of the morning. She continued to listen, just to know if she had gone crazy or not. When nothing happened for a while, Catalina was sure that she had gone insane and her brain was making up other personalities to make up for the lack of friends. Catalina turned and laid back against her pillows once again, her entire body spread across the space of her bed.

“I have to say,” she heard again, “that I was glad when Topaz finally stopped saying that. I don’t know where he heard it, but it was certainly a damper on my day when he woke me up at three in the morning just to say that.” Catalina froze on her bed, now seriously freaked out that she was actually going insane. She stayed still for a little while more before bursting out laughing and covering her head with her hands. Her eyes were steadily leaking tears, possibly from the overwhelming emotions that she was feeling. Anger, confusion, helplessness, etcetera. She took a moment to assess her situation and the voice that she was constantly hearing. The voice was smaller, softer, more girl like in its tone. She could only assume that there was a girl behind that voice.

The silence settled around her again and left her to the voices in her head once again.

“Um…” the voice paused before asking, “Hello? I know that you’re there because I heard you laugh. But then you stopped and the silence made me nervous. I really hope that you’re alright and not down there dead or anything. Same with Topaz.”

Catalina stared at her ceiling and said, “Uh, yeah. I’m here. I’m not dead,” Catalina gazed down at herself. “At least I think I’m not dead.”

A sound made her jerk with its volume. It was a small sound that tinkled around the room, spreading and giving life to everything around the room. Once it reached her ears, her muscles immediately relaxed and she felt as if she could fall against the bed and take a nice, needed nap. Her eyes drooped and a small, sleep-induced smile spread across her lips.

“Good,” the voice said, “I totally thought that I was here by myself.”

“Well, I guess it could be comforting to know that I’m actually not going crazy and I am indeed listening to my wall talk to me.” 

There it is again; the tinkling laughter that lit up the entire room. 

“What’s your name? My name is Arianna Lynn Grimm. I do realize that I all of my names have double letters in them. Even if you weren’t going to comment on it, please never do. I am Tyrant’s younger sister, but I assume you already knew that since you were probably the girl who read the book.”

Catalina’s ability to talk suddenly vanished, along with her sense of reality. One of her favorite characters was in her apartment while the other was… somewhere in the universe talking to  _ her _ of all people. Her head had gotten light with the number of emotions she was feeling, but the most overwhelming of them all was the need to pass out. The overlooking want to fall back onto her bed and stare up at the ceiling as nothingness embraced her. 

But that was highly unlikely given the fact that her brain wanted to sneak something into the conversation before timing out.

“Wait, I know that this is probably a really dumb question, but how can you talk to me? Like, you’re not here in the room with me right now. So I just don’t understand how we could be keeping a steady conversation without being face to face.”

“Well, my dear Catalina,” Arianna spoke softly, “I’m sure you already know this, but my physical body is still in the middle of The End. However, since The End doesn’t capture my true essence and just the part of me that is real, I am already in your room. See, the physical body doesn’t move through The End like anything else. The End is used to transporting things without two forms; physical and spiritual. So when a human body is thrown in, it immediately transports the mental part of it and their spirit without the body. The body is left in the freefall that we call ‘The End’. Got it?”

Catalina nodded her head slowly and stared down at the ground for a second before raising her head and looking at the opposite wall. 

“So let me get this straight,” she spoke softly, “Your body isn’t actually here right now but you’re here right now without your body?”

“Yes, if you were to simplify it a bit more.”

“Great! Exactly. Makes so much sense… if I was talking to my wall!” 

There was a huff over the small connection and Arianna moved away from the topic and continued to speak quietly to Catalina.

“I’m sure you really want to meet my brother, right?” Arianna asked. Catalina froze.

“I-I mean, I- I mean, I guess I am, but I don’t know. I’m excited to meet all of you. I-I’ve already met Topaz, so I guess I don’t have to meet him at all. But, yeah, Tyrant would be great to see- I mean, it would be nice to meet him for the first time-”

“Catalina, stop talking please,” Arianna said. Catalina shut her mouth, he words still sitting on her tongue. 

“Arianna, sister-mine, stop threatening the poor girl. I’m sure she’s already scared out of her wits.” Catalina stared down at her hands, her face slack. She shouldn’t recognize the voice because the characters were from a book, but she felt it deep in her stomach as if she knew it. As if she had heard it many times before, which was- simply put- impossible, even if the characters were coming out of the book.

“First of all, jerk,” Arianna spat, “I wasn’t threatening her. If you were here earlier in the conversation, you would’ve known that.” Silence settled between the three. After a few moments, Arianna spoke up. “Now, you’ve scared her.” 

Tyrant chuckled, or at least that’s what Catalina thought. “Why would you say that, sister mine?”

Catalina rose to her feet with pure shock and rushed over to the door. She swung it open to reveal the living room.

**__________()()__________**

Topaz sat in the living room of the three girls small apartment, a bowl of cereal resting on his lap, totally untouched. Once he had walked out of Catalina’s room in search of peace and quiet, he was automatically thrown into this otherworldly place. Callie and Mac handed him a bowl of the colorful balls that they were eating early. Their eyes had been wide as he took the bowl and shoved one spoonful of “Cap’n Crunch” into his mouth. Flavors that he had never tasted before burst on his tongue and danced in his mouth. He was not used to this once so ever. The fruit of Cardonia always had a specific flavor that was sweet, but never this type of sweet. 

The girls had tried to talk to him many times, but he refused to engage in a conversation with people who weren’t the same species as him, even though they didn’t know it. 

He listened to the two girls chatter about some random topic when he heard the door to Catalina’s room burst open and slam against the wall. He quickly spun around on the couch, his bowl of Cap’n Crunch totally forgotten. It spilled across his lap, soaking into the couch and his pants. He groaned sorrowfully as the feeling settled deep in his stomach but right as he heard his wife and her brother arguing in the darkness of Catalina’s room, the idea of the round balls disappeared from his mind. Topaz took the time to bow at the two girls sitting in the living room before rushing toward the door. Grabbing Catalina’s wrist, he dragged the two of them into the room, quickly shutting and locking the door behind him. 

His face broke out in a smile.

“My love!” He announced with joy very evident in his voice. 

A sigh sounded over the link. “Hello, my Topaz. How are you?”

“My dear, you know that we do have pet names that we said we would use at least five times in a conversation. Each. We signed a contract, honeybear!” 

“Honey,” Arianna strained, “I don’t think I could forget it even if I wanted to. And technically ‘my Topaz’ counts.” Topaz roared with a laugh and rolled his eyes at Catalina’s general direction. Ariana's tinkling laugh and Topaz’s roar perfectly entwined together and made Catalina’s heart beat faster.

“We were joking,” Arianna spoke softly. Topaz turned his body to face Catalina, his eyes wide with pure joy.

“Yeah, we were. We’re not  _ that _ dysfunctional.”

Tyrant snorted. “‘That dysfunctional.’ I would love to hear of someone that’s more dysfunctional than the two of you.” The four laughed before the door to Catalina’s bedroom began to bang.

“Catalina,” came a muffled yell, probably from Mac. “Who do you have in there? I hear much more than two voices.” Catalina’s eyes widened in surprise and worry. She faced Topaz in a fit of anxiety and shoved him on the bed. 

“Nothing!” She called back, trying to wish away the two bodiless voices in her room. 

“Are you sure? Callie and I are totally sure that someone else besides that… hot man was talking.”

“Well, you’re wrong! I would be sure since it’s my room.” A sigh and a dismissive sound came from behind the door and the pair could be heard walking away. As soon as Catalina heard the door to their rooms shut, Catalina let out a long sigh and sat on the bed beside Topaz. 

“Who were those weirdos?” Tyrant asked, his voice resounding around the room. 

Catalina and Topaz shrugged, both not realizing the fact that Tyrant and Arianna weren’t in the room with them.

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Catalina said, “I mean, they’re my roommates and I have to live with them, so…”

The silence settled over the small room once again before Arianna broke the ice with a cough and a “T -10 minutes.” The silence settled over again and Arianna slowly counted down from ten until she stopped talking altogether. Topaz and Catalina gazed at each other and shrugged once again before exiting the room and setting themselves on the couch. The previous mess that topaz had made on the couch was cleaned up, but the spot was gone and no longer spoiled by the 2% milk that slipped from Topaz’s bowl earlier this morning. 

“What happened to them, Topaz?” Catalina looked over at the blue-haired Fae as she sat. “ I mean, it’s really odd that they just stopped talking. Extremely odd.” Topaz rolled his eyes and sat beside the smaller girl.

“You mean that it wasn’t odd that they talked in the first place? They weren’t even present!”

“Well yeah, that was pretty weird, but… I don’t know. I got used to it, I guess.” 

“ ‘Got used to it’.” 

“Yeah, got used to it. You know, like how you get used to that bright blue mop on your head!” Catalina shoved Topaz over and stood from the couch. She marched over to the kitchen a pulled a bowl down from the cabinet while simultaneously grabbing another brightly colored box of cereal from the counter. 

She heard shuffling from the small living room before Topaz huffed and mumbled, “It’s entirely natural. I would never put dye in such beautiful hair.” 

She turned toward Topaz, the bowl of Cheerio’s resting in her left hand, the spoon hanging loosely in her right. “So, when do they get here?”

“I don’t really know. The End is a real randomizer when it comes to times. Honestly, I’m surprised that Tyrant and Arianna aren’t showing up at two opposite times.” The two stared at each other before shrugging. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments Please!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Did you enjoy it? I hope you did. Or at least tried to. Please leave comment and kudos cause God knows I need those to keep going!! ❤❤


End file.
